Posts Tagged ‘Gov. Brian Sandoval’

Texas on the shortlist for legal online play?

Gov. Brian Sandoval said Thursday he has held preliminary talks with other state governors on partnering with Nevada on Internet poker.

Sandoval didn’t name the states but gaming sources said Texas could be a target.

Sandoval, a Republican, supported Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s brief run for the GOP’s presidential nomination last year. Also, the Texas Legislature is considering the Poker Gaming Act of 2013, which would make it legal in the state to play poker online.

“I’ve talked with a few governors and I’m introducing the concept of compacting,” Sandoval said following a tour of the new corporate headquarters in Las Vegas for BMM International, one of two laboratories that tests gaming equipment for Nevada regulators.

“It’s very much in the early stages and we have a great opportunity because we have the infrastructure and other states have the players,” Sandoval said. “I’m hopeful we’ll continue to talk.”

Nearly a million and a half travelers were overcharged an estimated $14.8 million last year by cabdrivers and cab companies, a legislative audit of the state Taxicab Authority found.

The audit, released Monday, estimated that 22.5 percent of the 6.6 million rides given by local taxicabs to and from McCarran International Airport in 2012 were deceptively long.

The practice, known as long hauling, added an average of about $10 to the typical cab fare, according to the audit. It recommended that the Taxicab Authority take several steps to prevent long hauling. Auditors came up with their estimate by reviewing 2,730 airport trips and said 614 of them involved long hauling.

They noted that their estimate was conservative because they did not count a trip as a long hauling ride unless the fare was at least $5 higher than the estimated fare to a specific destination, typically about $16 to $18.

“Although the Authority has increased its efforts to detect long hauling, more needs to be done, including the use of preventative measures,” the audit said.

Signed last month by Gov. Brian Sandoval, AB114 allows Nevada to enter into compacts with other states to offer Internet poker and other online gambling in the participating states.

The five-member commission must draft regulations to implement the law.

People interested in or affected by the law have until April 12 to file comments that will be posted online. Replies to the comments will be accepted until April 19.

The commission is interested in what issues should be considered for inclusion in regulations of the interstate agreements, such as whether revenue sharing should be based on where a wager originated or the location of the servers.

Investors bullish for web casino futures

Approval of Internet gaming bills in Nevada and New Jersey less than a week apart helped fuel investors’ interest in the gaming industry during the last half of February.

The largest beneficiary was Caesars Entertainment Corp.

Nevada and New Jersey began implementing online gaming websites directed at customers gambling on computers or mobile devices within state borders.

Gov. Brian Sandoval signed Nevada’s interactive gaming bill Feb. 21 after less than one day of debate. Not to be outdone, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed his state’s online gaming bill Tuesday after state lawmakers approved changes suggested by the governor when he vetoed the initial legislation.

Caesars owns four of Atlantic City’s 12 casinos. In Las Vegas, Caesars operates 10 casinos on or near the Strip.

Fahrenkopf suggests Barton bill redux in IGNA address

, who will step down in June after 18 years as president and CEO of the American Gaming Association, said Wednesday he believes a comprehensive federal bill legalizing online poker will be brought back to Capitol Hill this year.

Fahrenkopf expects Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, to reintroduce an Internet poker-only bill in the House. Barton has tried before but failed to garner enough support in the House to pass an online poker bill.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and former Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., were working on a bill last year, but it never materialized, much to the disappointment of Fahrenkopf and other gaming industry leaders.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if a new bill was introduced in this session,” Fahrenkopf told gaming regulators and executives during a question-and-answer session at the 2013 iGaming North America Conference at Planet Hollywood Resorts.

He said the association was “still hopeful something will get done,” but with Kyl’s retirement they are working to “find a conservative Republican from a nongaming state” to support a federal bill legalizing online poker.

Opinions vary about the impact of the new law including how soon and how effective the systems will be without opening up their games to other states. Success will depend on the size, diversity, etc of the player base and this law allows Nevada to negotiate with other states to offer internet poker. Even more companies are now lining up in Nevada to get in the game and hopefully other states follow along.

Smarter people than myself will be posting here soon with their thoughts.

Q & A with new Gaming Control Board chairman

It’s not like A.G. Burnett has a huge learning curve in his new position as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

For more than a decade, Burnett, 43, played a behind-the-scenes but active role in many of the agency’s decisions and rulings concerning the industry.

Burnett has offered legal advice and regulatory opinions on gaming company consolidation, federal antitrust issues, casino expansion into Macau other foreign markets, the emergence of private equity ownership, and advances in gaming technology.

He spent nine years as deputy chief of the agency’s corporate securities division, four years as a deputy attorney general for gaming and nearly a year as a state gaming agent.

In January 2011, Gov. Brian Sandoval appointed Burnett to become a member of the three-person control board. Sandoval elevated Burnett to chairman in November to replace outgoing chairman Mark Lipparelli. Burnett’s current term expires at the end of 2014.

With only days remaining in the session, and with consensus far from reached on a bill that sought to reshape the landscape of online gaming, “we have simply run out of time in this legislative calendar,” he said.

“I am disappointed,” Reid said, adding he and Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., “remain committed to this issue and it will be a priority for us in the new Congress.”

Reid’s comment in a statement came shortly after his chief of staff, David Krone, said in an interview that “this bill for this year is dead.”

The poker bill was a priority for several Nevada casino companies seeking a lucrative new and national market for their brands and for poker players seeking legal and federally regulated online games accompanied by consumer protections.

Sandoval split with the National Governors Association, which told congressional leaders the proposed bill would restrict states from pursuing their own forms of legalized gaming, and the revenue gained would help fund schools and social programs.

A draft bill reviewed by the governors was unacceptable, according to Govs. Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania and Steve Beshear of Kentucky.

“We oppose the draft Senate legislation in its current form as an unnecessary pre-emption of state authority,” said the governors, who head the association’s economic development committee.

Gov. Brian Sandoval announced Wednesday that he’ll go to China and South Korea next week on a trade mission in an effort to strengthen business ties between Nevada and two of Asia’s largest economies.

Sandoval said the trade mission is the first time in Nevada history a governor has led a trade mission to both countries. Former Democratic Gov. Richard Bryan led a delegation to China in the 1980s, according to the governor’s office.

Sandoval told members of the Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce meeting at Greenland Supermarket that his 10-day trip is also about getting the state “in the game” when it comes to building business ties in Asia.

“We are building the foundation for the next 20 years,” the Republican governor said. “Many other states that have done this and have been rewarded. We can do a lot more.”

Regulators say they are ready to go no matter what

Gamblers could be playing Internet poker in Nevada even before the Legislature has a chance to act on several Gaming Policy Committee recommendations to tweak current state regulations covering interactive gambling.

Gov. Brian Sandoval, following the committee’s final meeting Wednesday before the Legislature convenes in February, said he’s comfortable state gaming regulators are taking appropriate steps to license reputable casino operators and technology providers while protecting players’ interests.

Nevada gaming regulators licensed slot machine makers Bally Technologies and International Game Technology in June to provide interactive gaming products to casino operators. Shuffle Master has received tentative approval as a supplier and could receive final approval soon.

Gaming Control Board Chairman Mark Lipparelli said the first casino operators could be in front of regulators in 60 to 90 days. Once the casino operators are licensed and independent testing labs sign off on the technology, pay-to-play Internet poker could go live within Nevada boundaries before the session begins.

Gaming Labs ready as Nevada Net poker nears

A move by Nevada gaming regulators to have independent testing laboratories certify gambling equipment could result in new technology reaching casino floors more quickly.

It also could mean the state’s move into Internet poker might happen on a faster pace.

Last week, slot machine makers Bally Technologies and International Game Technology were licensed by the Nevada Gaming Commission to supply potential Internet casino operators with the systems to conduct, manage and monitor online gambling.

The technology Bally and IGT executives said they would use in Nevada is already in use in Europe, where online gaming is already legal in some jurisdictions. However, the technology still needs Nevada certification. The systems should be familiar to Gaming Laboratories International and BMM International, the two private labs registered by the Gaming Control Board on Thursday to test equipment for Nevada.